Paint Me a Rose
by Natural Killer Cyborg
Summary: FFVI, Gau x Relm. Gau's always causing trouble, and this time he disrupts Relm while she's painting! It was a special picture... Can he make it up to her...?


Chapter I - Thorns

The summer light shone on the grass as it danced in the wind, disturbed momentarily by brisk footsteps, which quickly broke into a run. A young rabbit darted around the clearing, followed closely by a boy of about 15, barefoot and running on all fours. His chaotic, grass-like hair billowed behind him as he darted left and right, slowly closing in on his prey. Just when it seemed guaranteed that he would catch the elusive critter, the rabbit found what it was looking for; a small hole near the flower garden, most likely leading to a rabbit's den.

With a leap of fate, the rabbit dived into the hole, disappearing from sight. The boy made to catch it, but was awarded with air instead. Dumbfounded, he didn't try to stop himself as he crashed head first into the house that he'd failed to see through his excitement of chasing the rabbit. "Uwaaoo… Gau's head hurts!" he yelped, clawing at his mangy hair.

From inside the house came a small rumbling that quickly erupted like a volcano. The front door was wrenched open roughly, and a blonde haired girl stormed out, panting. Green paint dripped from a large paintbrush in her hand, landing unnoticed on the grass. "What the _hell_ do you think you're doing?" She yelled, looking around for the culprit.

Whimpering, Gau looked up at her sulkily. He was still grasping his hair, his vibrant garnet eyes shining with tears. "Relm… mad?" He choked, rocking back and forth.

Relm spun around at his voice, her eyes showing momentary concern. Blinking it away, she knelt down and grabbed at his shawl forcefully, giving him a stern look. "Your flying into the wall screwed me up!" She spat. "And I almost got paint on my new pants, the ones that Edgar bought me last week!" She puffed up her pants subconsciously with her free hand. "What have you got to say for yourself?"

Gau winced at her words. He hated it when people were angry with him, but his wild nature tended to get him into a lot of trouble. Just yesterday he'd knocked over a freshly picked basket of apples that Tina had spent all afternoon picking. Locke had spent the rest of the evening lecturing him. "I… I sorry." He breathed, looking away from her. A moment of silenced passed between them before Relm finally loosened her grip. The canary yellow fabric settled back onto his chest, and he chanced a look back at her. Her hair was ruffled, hat slightly crooked, and her cheeks flushed a soft pink.

"… Look, I can fix the mistake." She mumbled after a few minutes. "But just stay away from here, you hear?" She stood up suddenly, and glided towards the door frame. Gau looked up at her with rejected eyes as she turned and slammed the door, hinges rattling from old age and wear. After a few minutes, he crawled over to the window, slowly lifting himself up until his nose rested on the window sill.

The wild boy watched as, with an air of annoyance, Relm strut back over to her canvas, picking up the palette and paintbrush from a nearby table, and looking over her work. Gau noticed a lot of green; she'd most likely been painting the field outside. But looking closer he saw that she had been painting something else. A scrawny, almost starved looking figure squatted in the grass. He was wearing tattered green shorts with funny yellow spots and a shawl of the same yellow, adorned with red spots and held together with a pink kitty clasp. The only accessories he wore were red bands on his wrists and ankles. His face was rough, with odd, choppy eyebrows, grass green like his hair; which left something to be desired, hovering over wild garnet eyes with slits not unlike a cat's. His ears, nails and teeth were more demonic looking than human. Across his nose was a harsh black stroke, which Relm now began painting over with a yellow-ish peach.

Gau's fingers slipped and he landed on the ground roughly, his cheeks a rosy hue. _She had been drawing him!_

**Author's comments:** Aww, innat cute. I must've been on drugs when I came up with this scenario, but I love this pairing to bits.

… If you haven't figured out what pairing it is, you're an idiot.

Hint: It's not Relm/Edgar.

Final Fantasy VI and it's characters belong to Square Enix, not me. Teehee, Squeenix!


End file.
